Have anyone tries this scope?

[Jepjep]

Have anyone tried a Meade Lightbridge Mini 82/114/130mm?

[glynnlondon]

Cant seem to find any reviews yet even over on cloudy nights , although they were only released in december by the looks of it.

Meade being a decent manufacturer I would expect them to be similar to the skywatcher range of mini dobs.

That said I do like the look of the 130 version with parabolic mirror at f5 and closed tube design. Rack and pinion focuser as well which I would prefer to the skywatcher helical focuser version.

Others may have a much better idea than my limited knowledge tho here is a link to the 130 http://www.meade.com/products/telescopes/lightbridge-mini/lightbridge-mini-130.html

[Jepjep]

Cant seem to find any reviews yet even over on cloudy nights , although they were only released in december by the looks of it.

Meade being a decent manufacturer I would expect them to be similar to the skywatcher range of mini dobs.

That said I do like the look of the 130 version with parabolic mirror at f5 and closed tube design. Rack and pinion focuser as well which I would prefer to the skywatcher helical focuser version.

Others may have a much better idea than my limited knowledge tho here is a link to the 130 http://www.meade.com/products/telescopes/lightbridge-mini/lightbridge-mini-130.html

Thanks for the reply but do you think the 82mm will do good performance? PS it includes a 2x Barlow

[Ricochet]

If you can afford it I would go for something bigger than the 82mm. I had an old 84mm Newt for a few months but it was only really suitable for lunar and bright planetary viewing.

[glynnlondon]

Hi Jepjep the barlow would be ok with the 26mm but on the 9mm would be a bit too much magnification I think other than the moon which should be alright.

I would think it similar to this skywatcher scope http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-76-mini-dobsonian.html.

Here is a link to a review of the above http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/183695-skywatcher-heritage-76-mini-dob-first-light-review/.

Obviously the larger the aperture the more liight the scope can collect and more detail you can see.

[Jepjep]

Hi Jepjep the barlow would be ok with the 26mm but on the 9mm would be a bit too much magnification I think other than the moon which should be alright.

I would think it similar to this skywatcher scope http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-76-mini-dobsonian.html.

Here is a link to a review of the above http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/183695-skywatcher-heritage-76-mini-dob-first-light-review/.

Obviously the larger the aperture the more liight the scope can collect and more detail you can see.

Just saw the Skywatcher Heritage 100p, would you recommend it?

[glynnlondon]

For sub £100 telescopes it is often recommended on here especially as a first scope as its very good value for the price.

The 4 inch aperture will show more than the 3 inch versions ( 76/82 ) , at least 2 of the cloud belts on jupiter and the rings of saturn although small would be easily identifiable.

here are links to a couple of reviews .

http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/review/telescopes/sky-watcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208138-skywatcher-heritage-100p/

[Jepjep]

For sub £100 telescopes it is often recommended on here especially as a first scope as its very good value for the price.

The 4 inch aperture will show more than the 3 inch versions ( 76/82 ) , at least 2 of the cloud belts on jupiter and the rings of saturn although small would be easily identifiable.

here are links to a couple of reviews .

http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/review/telescopes/sky-watcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208138-skywatcher-heritage-100p/

Thanks, but I need to think what scope I will buy until I can save enough money

[glynnlondon]

Absolutely Jepjep take your time there is no hurry at all the stars have been around a long time and will be about a few years more  .

You can download this software for free  http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/  , just about everyone on here uses it and you could use it to learn the constellations while saving.

Also I dont know if you have access to a pair of binoculars but that too is a great way to start , there is an observing with binoculars section on this very site.

[Jepjep]

Absolutely Jepjep take your time there is no hurry at all the stars have been around a long time and will be about a few years more  .

You can download this software for free  http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/  , just about everyone on here uses it and you could use it to learn the constellations while saving.

Also I dont know if you have access to a pair of binoculars but that too is a great way to start , there is an observing with binoculars section on this very site.

I do have a pair of Bushnell Powerview 20x50 binoculars and have been observing some things in some constellation.

[Ccolvin968]

If you put the binoculars on a tripod, you'll get a more stable image. Good luck with your decision.

[mattd85]

I actually won the Meade LightBridge Mini 114.

I won it in a comp with all about space mag. I won the etx90 and a spotting scope also as a package. I didn't get chance to try it out as I was busy with the etx90 so I decided to give it away to a friend who was suffering with some depression issues and I wanted him to take his mind off things. He loves it. 

[Alfian]

There is a review of the 130 LightBridge in the August edition of Astronomy Now. It gets quite a good review, the only real negative being the quality of the eyepieces that are supplied which frankly tends to be the same with the supplied EPs with most new scopes. Essentially it is  has very similar (good) optics to those of the Heritage 130p which is a good compact scope. The main difference is the more traditional solid tube rather than the open truss design of the Heritage. It also has a rack and pinion focuser rather than the simple helical focuser of the Heritage which is probably a good thing.

Neil English sings the praises of the Heritage 130 with a mention of the LightBridge here:   http://neilenglish.net/a-newtonian-travel-scope/

My reservation about the Lightbridge is the price which is quite a bit more than the Heritage and similar to the Skywatcher 150p Dobsonian which would, I think, be a better scope.